A variety of animal monitoring devices may be used to remotely track animal location and remotely sense the temperature of animals. Certain of these devices include an orally administered, inserted, or ingested bolus containing microprocessors for processing animal identification information and the signal from a temperature sensor to provide encoded data representations which can be transmitted by radio-frequency to a radio-frequency receiver. However, certain problems remain unresolved which relate to the structure and function of the bolus electrical circuitry and the transmission of encoded data representations by these conventional animal monitoring devices.
One problem related to conventional bolus may be that there is no magnet located within the bolus which generates a magnetic field to collect metal materials ingested by the animal such as wire, nails, screws, tacks, barbed wire, or the like. Alternately, conventional bolus may contain a magnet, but the magnetic field generated may dispose attracted metal elements in an orientation which projects outwardly from the bolus. These projecting metal elements can cause injury to the animal.
Another problem related to conventional bolus can be that the magnet has a location sufficiently close to or as a part of the components generating the radio-frequency which carries encoded data representations generated by the microcontroller or processor elements resulting in loss of encoded data representations during transmission to the radio frequency receiver.
Another problem related to conventional bolus may be that the mass of the animal in which the bolus has a location can demodulate the frequency of the radio signal such that the radio signal has a different frequency at the point of transmission than the frequency of the radio signal after passing through the mass of the animal. Accordingly, encoded data representations can be intermittently interrupted or portions or all of the transmitted encoded data representations can be lost.
As to each of these substantial problems, the animal monitoring system described herein provides a solution.